Xin Ru Si Hui (Hearts Reduced To Ashes)
by Matrix14
Summary: I think this is my best fic yet. Not that that's saying much. S/J. I really suck at writing summaries, don't I? Erm....just r/r PLEASE!


Xin Ru Si Hui (Hearts Reduced To Ashes)  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c walked through the forest of Z4D8992, on the look out for any   
kind of life apart from trees.  
"What've you got, Carter?" Jack asked.  
"Everything corresponds with the MALP findings, sir. Normal CO2 and Nitrogen levels." Sam   
put the atmosphere censor back on her belt.  
"Seen anything interesting Daniel?"  
"Nope. Looks pretty deserted to me." Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose and gazed around.  
"Nothing but trees." Sam concluded.  
"I think you are mistaken, Major Carter." Teal'c was looking into the trees, "There appear to be  
other inhabitants."  
Jack, Sam and Daniel peered into the trees, but couldn't see anything in the shadows.  
"Think he's finally flipped?" Jack whispered to Sam and Daniel.  
"I have not, as you imply, 'flipped', Colonel O'Neill. Observe."   
Teal'c once again looked into the trees. Jack rolled his eyes at the other two and followed Teal'c's  
gaze. A movement to the right caught his eye.  
"Heads up."   
They moved forward slowly, trying to see beyond the trees. It was absolutely hopeless, of course,  
being pitch black, but Jack had seen a figure move. Suddenly, a person stepped forward. It was a  
woman dressed in a Roman style toga, with long auburn hair. She hardly looked very dangerous  
and Sam didn't like the look in Jack's eyes when he saw her. Both he and Daniel were   
mesmerised by the beautiful woman. Teal'c raised an eyebrow at Sam and she coughed, making  
Jack and Daniel jump.  
"Maybe we'd better say something to her, sir?"  
"Oh, yeah, right Carter." Jack took a step forward and spoke, "Hi. So,who're you?"  
The woman looked from Jack to Daniel and spoke quietly,  
"Ego sum Melissa. Quis est tu?"  
Daniel stepped forward, obviously recognising the language she was speaking, but to the   
amazement of Sam, Jack replied.  
"Ego sum Jack O'Neill. Illes est me amicis, Major Sam Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, Teal'c." He  
jestured towards the others and the woman nodded warily at them, "Nos est explatores. Ubi est  
tuum villa?"  
"Per silvam. Quam est vos ince?"  
"Ex Terra. Nos besinque ad villa, est tu propinque?"  
The woman nodded and turned.  
"Come with me." She beckoned them to follow her.  
"Hang on a minute," Jack called after her, "You speak English?"  
The woman smiled and carried on through the trees. Sam had a bad feeling about her.  
Daniel was staring at Jack, his mouth practically hanging open.  
"You speak Latin?" He said, astounded.  
"Yeah. What, think I'm not intelligent enough?"  
"No, it's just..."  
"Please, hurry up. It will be dark soon." The woman called to them.  
Daniel and Teal'c set off after her, but Sam was worried, something wasn't right.  
"Sir, do you think we should just follow her? We don't know anything about her. We don't even   
know what type of planet this is."  
"Oh, come on, Carter. Yeah we need to know where we are, but she speaks Latin and English.   
She wears clothes like that. What does that say to you?"  
"She looks like she's Roman."  
"Exactly!"  
Jack set off after the others, leaving Sam to follow him.   
"You speak Latin and English," she muttered, "But that doesn't mean I'd trust you."  
"I heard that, Carter. Now get a move on!"  
Sam sighed and began to walk.  
  
They broke through the edge of the trees and were met with an amazing sight. A Roman villa   
was built on the slopes of a huge mountain. It's looked like...  
"A volcano!" Daniel gasped, looking as if his dreams had come true.  
"Come," the woman said, "I shall show you my house. You shall meet my grandfather." She   
walked towards the villa. Daniel, Jack, Sam and Teal'c followed her, staring in awe at the summit  
of the volcano.  
"It's a second century Hadrianic post house!" Daniel said, "We're actually going to go inside a   
Roman villa!"  
"Great, Danny Boy. Two things; First, we don't know it's Roman. Second, don't volcanoes, you  
know, erupt?"  
"Yeah." Daniel was obviously not listening to Jack, "Come on." He walked away, up the path to  
the villa.   
Jack looked suspiciously up at the volcano again, then followed Daniel.  
  
They stepped inside a spacious hallway, complete with a fountain and a shrine of some kind.  
Daniel looked like he was only just resisting the urge to go and examine the shrine and Melissa  
saw him looking at it.  
"It is a shrine to Hestia and Venus."  
"Oh." Daniel turned to Jack, Sam and Teal'c, "The Goddesses of the home and love." He   
explained.  
"You must come and meet my Grandfather." Melissa said, "He is through here." She walked   
through one of the archways and they followed her into a large courtyard garden where a very   
old man was sitting in a chair.  
"Grandfather, we have visitors!" Melissa called to him.  
The old man stood up slowly and turned round,  
"Visitors? Where from?"  
"They are from Earth."  
"Earth?!" The old man smiled and walked towards them, addressing Daniel, which annoyed Jack,  
"We are pleased to offer you hospitality. How did you get here?"   
"We came through the Stargate. If you don't mind me asking, how did you get here?"  
"It is a long tale. If you would share a drink with us, I will explain. It has been so long since we   
saw anyone, of course." The man was so happy, he looked like he was about to hug Daniel.  
"Thanks."   
Melissa left, presumably to get drinks, and the team sat down in the chairs offered to  
them, Jack began to talk to the old man, finally gaining hold of the conversation,  
"How come you've not seen anyone for so long?"  
"Well we are alone here, obviously. But if you don't mind me asking first, I presume there is a   
new Emperor?"  
"Emperor? How long ago did you come here?"  
"I came here 24 years ago, when Melissa was just a child."  
"Well we've sure got a new President..."  
"Um," Daniel interupted to Jack's annoyance, "What year is it?"  
Jack gave Daniel a look which clearly showed that he thought he'd gone mad.  
"It is 25 years since Emperor Aurelius died. But surely you know that?"  
Daniel looked at Jack, worried.  
"Well, actually, when we left Earth, it was the year 2001. If you're who I think you are, that's   
1921 years since you were on Earth."  
"What? How can that be? I have counted the days since we came here. I could hardly have   
lived 1921 years!"  
Sam stepped forward, wearing her familiar 'thinking frown',  
"I think we're in a bypass of Einstein's space-time continuum, sir."  
"Any chance of that in English?"  
"When we travelled through the Stargate, I think we got caught in the gap between the continual  
time cycle of Earth, and the time-pull of the other planets. Basically, I think we've been   
pulled into a separate universe."  
Daniel jumped up,  
"A separate universe? But that would mean there are even more planets linked up to the Stargate  
system than we thought! That means there are millions of them!"  
"Hey, Danny, calm down. Can we listen to the old guy?" Jack looked at the man, "Sorry."  
"How did you get here?" The man asked.  
"We came through the Stargate. Have you seen the silver ring through the trees?"  
"Yes, that it how we got here. We were thrown through the silver water."  
"You mean you got here from Earth, through the Stargate?" Daniel looked excited.  
"Yes. Why is it important?"  
"Which region did you live in? Are you from Rome?"  
"No. I am an Alexandrian. Melissa was born in Ostia, but her mother brought her to me when   
her father died." The man looked decidedly confused by the turn in the conversation.  
Sam sat down where Daniel had been, and spoke to the man,  
"How did you get into the Stargate?"  
"I was working as a royal scribe, and I took Melissa to see the pyramids. We walked up to one   
of them and met a strange woman. She had a strange voice, and she held up her hand. The next  
thing I remember is a bright light, and being thrown through the 'Stargate'."  
"This woman, what did she look like?" Sam was VERY worried about this.  
"She had red hair," Melissa said from behind them, "Her eyes glowed when she spoke."  
Jack, Sam and Daniel both spoke at the same time,  
"Hathor."  
Melissa came and sat next to her Grandfather. Sam studied her face.  
"How can you remember, weren't you very young?"  
"I was four years old. I can remember nothing else."  
Sam thought something was wrong with these people. Something just wasn't right.  
"Well," The old man stood up, "It is time for me to take my leave. Melissa will show you to   
rooms where you can sleep." He kissed Melissa on the cheek. "Good night." He walked into the  
house.  
Melissa smiled at Daniel, something Sam realised was meant to be attractive. Mind  
you, from the look on Daniel and Jack's faces, they found it attractive.  
"Where will we be sleeping?" Sam asked, with an overly innocent expression.  
"We only have three rooms. One is for my Grandfather, perhaps Teal'c would like to sleep in  
there. I suppose you two will want a room to yourselves," She nodded at Sam and Jack, to which  
Daniel snorted with laughter. She obviously thought they were together. She gave Daniel another  
killer look, "Daniel will have to share my room."  
Daniel stopped laughing immediatly,  
"Er, yeah, but you see, I'm marr-"  
"No, that'd be fine." Jack smirked. "Well, I'm tired. Come on Sam, let's leave these two alone."  
He got up and walked into the house, pulling an astounded Sam after him, before she could   
protest.  
They got into the house and he doubled up laughing. Sam stood with her hands on her  
hips.  
"How could you do that? Poor Danny, he won't know what to do!"  
"Now, Carter. Don't go suggesting things!"  
"You know that's not what I meant. That was downright cruel."  
"Yeah, but it was funny!"  
"Oh, sir."  
"Hey, it's Jack okay."  
Sam giggled,  
"Yes sir."  
Jack tried to glare at her, but failed miserably.  
"Come on, lets go see what's happening."  
"I just want to go and talk to Teal'c about something. You go, I'll come in a minute."  
"Okay." Jack ran down the corridor like an excited five year old.  
Sam smiled to herself, he was kinda cute when he was like this.  
Hang on a minute, what had she just thought? He was her CO. God, something about this place  
was damn weird.  
  
"Teal'c, I need you to come with me."  
"Why, Captain Carter?"  
"I've just got a feeling that something's wrong here. I think we should check it out."  
"I too had such a feeling."  
"Let's go."  
Sam and Teal'c set off down the corridor, and stopped at the door to the old man's  
room. They could hear voices coming from inside. Sam put her ear to the door and listened.  
What the hell?  
"Teal'c!" She whispered, "Come and listen to this."  
Teal'c put his ear to the door as well.  
"It is Gou'ald."  
"What're they saying?"  
"I cannot tell."  
"Do you know who they are?"  
"They are Isis and Sekhmet. Isis was the mother of Horus, Sekhmet is the God of the Death."  
"Yowch. So I suppose this is who Melissa and her Grandfather are?"  
A voice came from behind them suddenly, making Sam jump,  
"You are once again correct."  
They spun round. Teal'c was hit by a blast from a zat gun, cried in pain and dropped to the   
ground.  
"Teal'c!" Sam shouted. She looked for the person who had fired, but saw nobody, "Jack! Daniel!"  
She crouched over Teal'c's body, searching for signs of life. She shouted for Jack and Daniel   
again, why the hell was it taking them so long to get here? Unless something had happened to   
them. Cold fear gripped Sam as she thought of Jack and Daniel lying there, sprawled on the  
floor like Teal'c. It was more the thought of Jack like that that scared her, but she didn't have   
time to stop and think why.  
A noise made her become alert once more. Someone was walking up behind her.  
"Jack?" Sam asked.  
The sound that replied was that of a zat gun charging up.  
Oh shit, Sam thought. They'd left their guns at the door, not thinking they'd need them. Sam  
knew there was nothing she could do, she closed her eyes and braced herself for darkness. She   
said a silent goodbye to Daniel and Jack, and an apology to Teal'c. She screamed in pain as the   
first blast hit her. The pain occupied her mind, but somewhere subconciously she was waiting for  
the second blast, waiting for the pain to end. It never came. She heard Jack shouting her name,   
running towards her. She wanted to tell him to leave her and run the other way, but she couldn't   
speak.  
The next thing she felt was a heavy blow to the back of her head, and the world went black.  
  
  
Daniel knelt by Teal'c's body.  
"He's okay, Jack. Zat gun, but only one shot."  
Jack was leaning against the wall, cursing under his breath,  
"The bastards got Sam. Where the hell did they take her?"  
"I don't know, Jack. Not meaning to sound pessimistic, but she could be half-way to anywhere  
by now. Including the motherships."  
"Thanks, Daniel."  
With a groan, Teal'c began to move. He woke up and jumped to his feet.  
"O'Neill! Where is Major Carter?"  
"I don't know, Teal'c. Those bastards took her somewhere."  
"What do you mean by, they took her somewhere?"  
"I mean they took her somewhere. They just disappeared."  
"They are Isis and Bastet. They cannot go far."  
"How come?" Daniel asked.  
"They are not powerful, they can only use go a short distance under the cover of the invisibility  
shields. When they are transporting another person with them, they will only get just outside the   
house."  
Daniel made for the door,  
"Well let's go."  
"Hold it." Jack said.  
"Why?"  
"Doesn't it just seem a little too easy? How do we know there aren't hundreds of them out there?"  
"O'Neill," Teal'c got up to go to the door, "The other system lords will not have offered support  
to these Goa'uld. They are outcasts, renegade Gods who have no followers."  
"We can't just leave her with them, Jack."  
"I know that!" Jack snapped, "Sorry. Okay, we'll go. But keep alert."  
"Yup."  
"Right." Jack sighed and they walked outside.  
  
They crept round the side of the house, Jack in front, followed by Daniel and Teal'c behind.  
"Okay, we're clear." Jack nodded at the other two and they ran into the trees.  
"Jack, do we really have to bother with this? THERE AREN'T ANY GOA'ULD HERE."   
Daniel stepped out out turned around in a circle to illustrate the fact that he wasn't dead.  
"Well fine. Get killed."  
"Daniel Jackson is correct. I am sure that there are no more Goa'uld in the vicinity." Teal'c   
agreed with his usual total seriousness.  
Jack glared at him.  
"Fine!" Jack threw up his hands resignment, "Come on, the quicker we go, the quicker we can   
find Sam."  
"Sam?" Daniel raised his eyebrows in amusement.  
"Yeah, that's right. Carter. Not losing your hearing then Danny?" Jack strode away from them.  
Daniel just smirked.  
  
Sam groaned and sat up. Her head hurt like hell.  
She suddenly remembered why her head hurt like hell, and she jumped up,  
"Jack!?" She looked around, but she was in a clearing in a forest, presumably the forest on   
Z4D8992. A Goa'uld voice floated through the trees,  
" Your 'Jack' is not here. I am Sekhmet."  
Sam jumped and looked round for the person who was speaking, but she couldn't see any one.  
The voice continued,  
"You were once a host to Jolinar of Malkshaw*. Are you willing to cooperate with us in the   
trading of information?"  
"No." Sam spoke to the trees.  
"We expected this response. You have proved obstinate on other occasions."  
  
Jack strode through the trees, followed by Daniel and Teal'c.  
"Sam! Where the hell are you?!" Jack yelled. This time, Daniel didn't smirk.  
"Look, Jack. What if we can't find her?"  
"We WILL find her." Jack growled.  
Daniel glanced at Teal'c and trudged after Jack.  
They walked on in silence, only making a noise to shout for Sam.  
Jack stopped and leant against a tree. He couldn't help feeling rising panic that Sam was out there  
somewhere, and he didn't know where. But Sam can look after herself, he thought.   
"Okay, let's try over there." He pointed over to another group of trees. No one answered him.  
He turned round. Daniel and Teal'c had disappeared. "Oh, for crying out loud!"  
  
Sam was knelt on the ground, her head spinning. Sekhmet had used some kind of mind device  
on her, but she still wouldn't talk. They could kill her before she betrayed the Tok'ra.  
"You are an unintelligent race!" Bellowed Sekhmet, "If you were intelligent, you would have   
realised that we will kill you!"  
Sam gritted her teeth and stayed silent.  
"Fool!"  
A wall of light appeared around her, with only one entrance. It was a force field of some kind.  
Sam was slipping more and more into unconciousness from the pain, and in a final attemp to let  
Jack know where she was, she screamed at the top of her voice, ignoring the outraged cries of  
Sekhmet. For God's sake let him hear me, she thought.  
  
The SGC  
~~~~~~  
Daniel and Teal'c had been sent back through the gate. They were unconcious and as they rolled  
down the ramp, Janet and General Hammond came running out. Daniel came to just as they  
were being taken away on trolleys.   
"Dr. Jackson, what happened?" General Hammond asked.  
"They got Sam. We went after her but we got sent through the gate. Jack's still there."   
Daniel passed out.  
  
The Planet  
~~~~~~~  
Jack stood in the middle of the trees. He didn't know where he'd been going, but it was probably   
round in circles.  
"Sam!" He knew yelling was no use.  
Suddenly, a scream broke through the eerie silence. Jack broke into a run.   
He broke through the trees into a clearing. Sam was knelt in the middle, surrounded  
by a force field of some kind.  
"Sam!" He shouted. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him to help her. She was in  
terrible pain.  
She managed to push the pain away enough to point to the entrance to the force field. Then she  
had a thought. If Jack came in, Sekhmet would get him too. She tore away from the pain and  
yelled at Jack to stay out,  
"No! Leave me!"  
"What?! No way!"  
Jack ran through the entrance to the force field and grabbed Sam. She was shaking so much.  
Jack put his arms round her and held her. She fell sobbing against his chest and he sat rocking  
backwords and forwards, stroking her hair.   
"Come on, let's get out of here." He whispered.  
He pulled her up but she couldn't walk. He picked her up and and turned to walk out with her in  
his arms.   
Someone blocked his way.   
"I am Sekhmet. You will not leave."  
"Get out the way."  
Jack went forward to push past him, but he was thrown backwards and landed a few feet away.  
"Jack?" Sam said hoarsely.  
"I'm fine." He said, gritting his teeth, "The first chance you get, run."  
"I'm not leaving without you."  
Jack didn't bother to argue, he knew it was pointless.  
Sekhmet stepped forward and raised his hand. Jack leant over Sam to shield her from  
whatever was going to happen. A green light shot out of the palm of Sekhmet's hand. It   
surrounded Jack and Sam, twisting and turning round them. The world started spinning. The   
light invaded their heads, playing with their minds. They twisted and tried to block out the light,  
but they couldn't do anything. Sam was crying in pain, and Jack had had to let go of her and was   
holding his head in his hands. Both of them were writhing in pain.  
Jack was fighting the light, he was trying to take control of his mind once more. He  
knew what he had to do. He pushed the light back, struggling with it, but finally succeeding.  
He reached to his belt and puled out a grenade. He ripped the pin out with his teeth and flung it  
at Sekhmet. He flung himself over Sam and waiting for the explosion.  
  
There was a massive explosion and the world shook. The light disappeared and Sam stopped   
shaking.  
Jack lifted his head cautiously. He looked at Sam and brushed a lock of hair off her forehead.  
Their eyes locked and Jack bent his head to hers. Sam lifted her head to his and then caught  
sight of something over his shoulder. Her eyes widened and she pulled away.  
"What is it?" Jack asked.  
"Have you ever heard of Pompeii, Jack?"  
"Yeah, sure. It was destroyed by a big - "  
"- volcano." Sam finished for him. The ground was shaking, and rocks started to fall all around   
them. Jack turned and saw what Sam had.  
"Run."  
  
They got up and limped through the trees as fast as they could, which wasn't fast. Sam kept  
looking over her shoulder at the massive plume of smoke rising behind them.  
"Gotta go faster, gotta go faster." She said as larger rocks started to fall, narrowly missing them.  
  
They burst out of the trees and saw the familiar grey ring.   
"I'll dial, you signal." Jack ran to the DHD and began to dial. Sam sent the SG1 signal back to   
the SGC.  
She glanced behind her.  
"Shit, Jack. Hurry up!"  
The tower of smoke had collapsed and was rolling down the hill towards them. Pyroclastic Flow.  
It travelled at 200 miles an hour, and was 500 degrees in temperature. It was deadly.  
Jack finished dialing. The gate wouldn't lock.  
"Try again!" Sam screamed, "Try again!"  
Jack hit the glyphs again.   
"Come on, come on!"  
It locked.   
"Yes!"  
The wave came forward and settled back.  
Sam dived through, closely followed by Jack.  
  
They rolled down the ramp.  
"Shut it off!" Jack yelled at the control room.  
The blue shimmering water-like portal disappeared just as the roar of the Flow became   
deafeningly loud. Just before, a small rock fell through.  
Jack walked over and picked it up. He handed it to Sam,  
"Souvenir." He half-grinned.  
She smiled at him and threw her arms round his neck.   
"Hey, watch it." Jack nodded at the control room.  
"I don't care."  
She kissed him and he kissed her back, smiling at the cheers of the people in the control room.  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
* I don't know how to spell that. NE ideas?  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters (apart from Melissa/Isis and   
The Grandfather/Sekhmet.). I don't know who does.  
I own the plot. I hope.  
  
Author's Note: Oh my God, that took me so long to write! I think I'll hibernate for three months   
now.   
Hi to Katie R, Jennies S+H, miss420, Ro, Ellie, Kai (thanks), and everyone who reviews or  
has reviewed any of my fics.   
Special Thanks to:  
Jenni H - I couldn't wait to put this up so maybe pictures on the profile? (they're really good!)  
Kai - Thank you so much for your help. I hope this doesn't sound as young as 'Tian Zuo Zhi He'!  
Katie R - For writing reviews longer than 2 words!  
  
This might be the last fic from me for a while, I think I just exhausted the ten percent of my  
brain that I actually use. So much for that history essay. Oh well.....   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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